I have a 41 dodge streetrod and would like to make a molded in rear end with a lights and a license plate holder? i was going to make the mold out of Styrofoam then cover it with fiberglass. but i was told that the resin would melt the Styrofoam.any suggestions on putting something on the foam first before laying on the matting? if so what kind of matting should i use?i am not experienced at this at all?Thanks

You can use Styrofoam it's a lot cheaper than polyurethane. You must cover the Styrofoam with plastic packaging tape though before applying the fiberglass resin. The tape will protect the foam from the resin and the resin will not stick to the packaging tape.

yes vince you are correct this will work if your not making a piece where you need any detail of the part. the idea of the urethane foam is when your done shaping the part you can prime it, sand it smooth and wax it so when your done you can make a mold or pull a part from it that is exaxtly the same. the other way you will need to do bodywork to the actual part since it will have a packing tape like finish.

Use the ridgid blue or pink foam .. shape the piece the way you want it then cover it with a layer of bondo and sand it smooth,, then you can use that for a plug to make your part, its a bit of work ,, but sanding bondo is much easier than resin, be sure to use a mold release wax or pva water base mold release,, the wax works better, I think GOOD LUCK Bill

I own a BMW performance shop and we do LOTs of composite work. In my experiance sytrofoam will nto work for ANYTHING. FOAM will, there is a huge difference.

urethane is way better and way more expensive.

Any of these materials are hard to cut and hard to work into shape, FOAM guys are true specialist. Depending on the complexity of the task at hand you are looking at a much biggier task then you imagine.

BUT... using fiberglass to cover it all will help cover the flaws, then using bondo. BUT, use kevlar instead cause it is cheaper. If u need a material source let me know, dont pay more then $3.00 a linear yard for kevlar.
Also, trying to get your "foam" shape to stick to the body is goign to be a challenge, then making it all look "natural" is going to be the biggest challenge of this project.

hers some helpful siteshttp://www.fiberlay.com/
uscomposites.com
Ill tlak to our ordering department tomorrow and ask who we buy direct from. They may not sell small quantity or to someone without a wholesale licence. Send me an email to remind mepokerface@adelphia.net

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